MacBook Pro won't connect to one PC

[JMFlint]

I'm at a loss. I have a Windows network (4 PC's plus 3 Macs). My Windows PCs all see each other and the Macs and successfully connect. One of my MBP (13") sees all Windows PCs and Macs. The other MBP (17") sees all but ONE of the Windows PCs (and the one it won't connect to is the only one that is critical -- of course).

I get the error "Connection Failed: The server "name" may not exist or it is unavailable..." I have tried everything I've found on the 'net as far as troubleshooting. All the settings on the Windows PC are good (no Firewall) and, as I said, everything else on the network can connect to it. I've tried deleting all the plist files related to the Airport, nothing. I even tried directly connecting via Ethernet (that made things worse -- I couldn't connect with ANY of the computers).

I am resorting to sneakernet to copy files between these two computers and I'm losing it.

Any help?

TIA.
JMFlint

 

[TitanShadow]

Alright, this problem sounds familiar but I can't remember exactly how I solved it. There must be some difference between the one Mac and the others.

What OS version is each mac running? Have you done any playing with any of the configuration files for file sharing like smb.conf or anything?

Have you tried to ping the computer you can't reach to see if it responds that way?

Can the offending PC reach back and hit the Mac in question?

I find that SMB/NetBIOS file sharing is always problematic myself and try never to use it, but I can completely understand wanting it to be available for use when dealing with a lot of Windows machines... A few possibly options for alternatives you may wish to consider...

I love using SSH/SecureFTP, it can mount directly in OS X the same way a Windows box can but it isn't browse-able - meaning you have to know the name or IP of the computer you want to connect to in order to connect. I would install an SSH server on the windows machines that allows using Secure FTP (also called sftp or ftps or ssh-ftp, etc...).

If you don't like that idea for whatever reason, I'm still happy to help you resolve whatever can I of your issue.